Racism and the decoy runner Springbok rugby does not need.

The recent series win by the Springboks in their best of three tests against the British & Irish Lions has proved them worthy world champions and yet the series has a shadow hanging over it with some macabre comedy taking place at press conferences.

Pieter De Villiers as head coach of the Springboks must be doing something right with the Boks winning and yet every time he opens his mouth with the media he says something silly or irrelevant.

He accused the white media of racism when they castigated Rickie Januarie after he proved woefully out of form when he came on against the Lions in Durban and also looked way short of the fitness demanded at this sort of level.

Racism has a bad history in South Africa and accusing people of racism when they are not being racist deflects attention from real racism whcih still exists.

He was also seen to condone Schalk Burger and his eye gouging episode thereby embarrassing South African rugby and he launched into a childish rhyme about being a God given talent which endeared him to precisely nobody.

Gary Gold, assistant coach, has lamented the lack of recognition the Boks have received for beating the Lions in the rubber with one test still to go but the fact is that the De Villiers vaudeville has cleverly deflected attention from rugby on the field.

De Villiers has proved inept at speaking to the media so maybe somebody else, captain John Smit should do the job. After all, De Villiers would not give the job of kicking at posts to Schalk Burger now would he. Watch this space.

A previous Bok coach under admittedly different conditions who also dismissed the media as an irritant was eventually swatted right out of his job.

Bok PR blunders

De Villiers has also persisted in claiming that the Lions never congratulated him after the series win. This has been denied by the Lions management. Confrontation looms every time De Villiers opens his mouth.

De Villiers in further confrontation